Kinkaid made 35 saves and didn't have much of a chance on the goal, which came on a breakaway off an Albany turnover.

"He was outstanding," Devils coach Rick Kowalsky said. "He made big save after big save. A lot of it was fighting through traffic. He had good rebound control. He did everything he could to give us a chance to win that game."

When they weren't killing penalties, the Devils struggled to generate offense against St. John's goalie Michael Hutchinson, who made 24 saves for the first shutout in the series.

Albany was shorthanded six times, including three minor penalties against rookie defenseman Jon Merrill. Although the Devils successfully killed off all of them, it took them out of their offensive flow.

"I didn't think we had great legs early, and that (penalty-killing) certainly contributes to it a bit when there are guys sitting," said Kowalsky, whose team has killed off 14 of 15 shorthanded situations in the series. "It was frustrating. You've got to live with it. You've got to find a way to fight through."

St. John's, playing for the first time in the series at home, came out energized by the crowd of 6,287, the team's 123rd consecutive sellout.

The IceCaps outshot the Devils 17-6 in the first period. Moments before the goal, Kinkaid thwarted Eric O'Dell's breakaway chance with a poke-check.

"It's easier to get into the game with a few shots right away," said Kinkaid, who has a .949 save percentage in the playoffs. "I felt pretty good the whole game and in control of myself. I just tried to give the boys a chance to win."

Kinkaid didn't win because of a play that started at the IceCaps' blue line. Darcy Zajac tried to make lateral pass that Zach Redmond intercepted.

The Devils were trying to change defensemen, allowing Redmond to shoot a puck ahead to Mouillierat, who scored on a backhand.

"He made a move at the end and snuck it through me," Kinkaid said.

"It was not a great line change," Kowalsky said, "and not a great decision (by Zajac) to move the puck."

Albany had scoring chances, including a shorthanded breakaway by Chris McKelvie, a 2-on-1 chance for Zajac, and a shot by Joe Whitney in the waning seconds that hit the crossbar.